440,5 

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B    3    EflT    SMfl 

""-  3F"  -^^^     -  -         • 


LETTER 


THE  PEESENT  CRISIS; 


ADDRESSED    TO 


HON.    GILMAN   MARSTON, 


of  <£0ngr«s  from 


BY    NATHANIEL    G.    UPHAM, 


FEBKUAKY    20,    1861. 


CONCOED: 

STEAM    PRESS    OF    McFAKLAND    &    JENKS 
1861. 

LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


LETTER 


CONCORD,  February  20,  1861. 
HON.  OILMAN  MARSTON  ; 

My  dear  Sir — I  partly  promised  I  would  write  you, 
on  my  return,  in  reference  to  the  impressions  received 
from  my  visit  to  Washington,  and  as  to  the  present 
crisis  in  our  National  Affairs.  There  has  been  no  time 
since  the  organization  of  the  government  when  a  full 
and  free  interchange  of  opinion  has  been  of  more 
importance  than  now,  or  when  greater  unanimity  of 
sentiment  was  to  be  desired  in  regard  to  the  course  o  f 
action  to  be  pursued. 

LOVE  OF  THE  UNION  FORGOTTEN  IN  THE  GROWTH  OF  SEC 
TIONAL  PARTIES. 

You  will  readily  agree  with  me,  I  think,  that  the 
love  of  the  Union  is  deeply  implanted  in  the  hearts 
of  our  people :  yet  it  is  manifest  that,  for  a  series  of 
years,  a  course  of  political  policy  has  been  adopted 
in  different  sections  of  our  country,  whose  practical 
consequences  have  been  in  open  conflict  with  this 
feeling. 

Parties,  sectional  in  their  character,  have  grown  up 
at  the  North  and  South,  and  a  new  confederated  gov 
ernment  has  been  recently  installed,  claiming  to  exer 
cise  an  independent  sovereignty,  and  ready  for  the 
issue  of  war  with  the  remaining  States. 


Under  these  circumstances  the  inquiries — How 
this  state  of  things  has  been  brought  about,  and 
What  is  to  be  the  remedy,  are  questions  which  deeply 
agitate  the  public  mind. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  there  has  been  no  deliberate, 
preconceived  design,  on  the  part  of  the  North  to  orig 
inate  any  system  of  measures  to  destroy  the  Union — 
nothing  intended  to  effect  such  a  result ;  and  yet  the 
calamity  is  forced  upon  us  by  the  South  as  a  retalia 
tory  measure,  and  we  are  now  awaiting  the  sober, 
deliberate  judgment  of  the  people  whether  such  an 
act  shall  be  permitted. 

But,  admitting  there  was  no  such  design,  it  is  con 
tended  by  the  South  that  measures  have  been  taken 
of  such  oppressive  character,  and  so  destructive  of 
the  equal  rights  of  their  section,  as  to  compel  a  sepa 
ration. 

ADEQUATE     REMEDIES    WITHIN     THE     CONSTITUTION     FOR     ALL 
COMPLAINTS    MADE. 

It  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  such  allegations,  that,  if 
any  wrongs  have  been  committed,  the  Constitution 
itself  furnishes  a  remedy.  There  are  at  least  two 
sufficient  means  of  redress  of  such  grievances,  before 
it  can  be  necessary  to  resort  to  the  measure  of  an 
overthrow  of  the  government.  We  can  appeal  to 
the  calm,  deliberate  decision  of  our  National  Judi 
ciary,  whose  duty  it  is  to  construe  the  Constitution 
according  to  the  original  intent  and  design  of  its 
framers.  We  also  have  the  power  of  frequently 
recurring  appeals  to  the  people,  the  ultimate  effect  of 
whose  suffrages  may  be  relied  upon  to  insure  redress 
of  every  wrong  which  is  now  complained  of 


Over  and  above  these  reasons  for  forbearance  from 
violent  action,  the  section  of  country  from  which 
these  complaints  originate  had,  for  the  time  being, 
the  power  of  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  and  the 
Senate,  and  the  claimed  judgment  of  the  Judiciary  to 
support  them  in  the  practical  enjoyment  of  their 
rights.  There  was,  therefore,  no  great  emergency 
pressing  upon  them,  and  no  immediate  danger  that 
could  arise  from  delay.  The  rendition  of  fugitive 
slaves  had,  for  the  most  part,  been  enforced,  and  up 
to  the  period  of  secession  the  entire  territory  of  the 
Union  was  open  to  the  occupation  of  the  slaveholders 
where  there  was  the  least  probability  that  slavery 
could  ever  prevail. 

Under  such  circumstances  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
grievances  complained  of,  the  absence  of  all  imme 
diate  necessity  of  action,  and  the  plain  and  evident 
means  of  redress  yet  unexhausted,  there  can  be  no 
question  but  history  and  posterity  will  pronounce 
their  deliberate  judgment  that  there  was  no  justifiable 
pretence  to  cause  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

ALIENATION    OF   FEELING. 

But  there  is  another  view  of  the  existing  contro 
versy,  that  tends  far  more,  in  my  belief,  to  justify  and 
sustain  the  Southern  people  in  their  course  than  any 
ground  yet  alleged.  They  contend,  with  great  force 
and  justice,  that  in  order  to  constitute  United  States 
we  must  be  a  united  people. 

They  say  they  participated  with  us  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  and  in  the  subsequent  formation  of 
the  Constitution,  on  terms  of  perfect  equality,  and 
with  mutual  feelings  of  union  and  harmony.  That 


this  union  of  feeling  has  passed  away  ;  that  an  habit 
ual  crusade  has  been  preached  against  them  as  slave 
holders,  to  destroy  their  political  equality  ;  that  mur 
derous  raids  have  been  promoted  within  their  States ; 
that  their  servants  are  stolen  through  the  agency  of 
regularly  organized  northern  associations;  that  they 
are  denounced  extensively  at  the  North  as  thieves 
and  murderers,  and  the  rising  generation  are  taught 
to  regard  them  as  such  ;  and  that  the  whole  spirit 
and  tenor  of  the  farewell  words  of  Washington,  incul 
cating  union  and  love  among  us  as  one  people,  has 
been  persistently  and  wantonly  violated  by  inspiring 
sectional  divisions  and  hatred  :  and  thus  the  Union 
has  been  virtually  dissolved  by  us,  and  is  now  merely 
declared  to  be  so  by  them,  after  all  hope  of  mutual 
peace  and  harmony  has  ceased. 

They  omit  to  say,  that  very  many  of  these  acts 
were  occasioned  by  their  own  unwarrantable  and 
aggressive  spirit  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  but,  inde 
pendent  of  this,  and  of  the  fact  that  slavery  must 
always  constitute  a  subject  of  moral  consideration, 
there  is  very  much  for  serious  consideration  in  these 
assertions ;  and  if  in  the  future,  as  recently  in  the 
past,  political  harangues  on  slavery  are  to  keep  the 
public  mind  in  a  constant  state  of  excitement  and 
anxiety,  and  are  to  form  the  continual  theme  and  ele 
ment  of  party  strife  and  commotion,  it  is  indeed  time 
that  a  Union  composed  of  such  discordant  materials 
should  be  dissolved,  and  that  there  should  be  a  final 
separation  between  us,  as  hopelessly  conflicting  and 
irreconcilable  communities.  But  we  think  a  careful 
examination  of  the  circumstances  under  which  these 
feelings  have  been  caused,  and  of  the  crisis  through 


which  the  country  is  now  passing,  will  satisfy  us  that 
there  is  no  necessity  of  any  such  result. 

CAUSES    OF    ALIENATION   OF    FEELING    PASSING   AWAY. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  whole  question 
-of  slavery,  so  far  as  it  has  been  made  a  matter  of 
political  discussion,  has  originated  from  our  acquisi 
tion  of  new  territories,  and  that,  precisely  so  far  as 
the  position  of  those  territories  has  been  settled  and 
determined,  the  causes  of  such  discussion  have,  to 
that  extent,  been  diminished. 

The  occasions,  then,  for  controversy  on  this  subject 
are  rapidly  passing  away,  with  a  result  as  favorable 
to  Southern  acquisition  of  power  as  could  reasonably 
have  been  anticipated.  From  our  newly  acquired 
territories,  the  South  has  gained  the  States  of  Flor 
ida,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri  and  Texas ;  the 
latter  embracing  sufficient  area  for  three  or  four 
States.  It  would  seem  as  if  these  acquisitions  should 
be  satisfactory  to  her.  The  location  and  topograph 
ical  formation  of  our  remaining  territory,  exclusive 
of  the  portion  of  country  guaranteed  to  our  Indian 
population,  present  a  final  barrier  to  the  farther 
extension  of  slavery  within  our  present  limits,  and  it 
may  be  regarded  as  a  fixed  fact — that  there  will  never 
be  a  second  tier  of  slave  States  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  or  north  of  the  present  limits  of  Texas. 

There  has  been  no  basis  of  compromise  presented 
to  heal  our  present  dissensions  that  would,  in  the  end, 
prevent  this  result.  The  bounds  and  limits  of  farther 
slavery  extension  in  this  country  are  fixed  by  laws 
and  circumstances  anterior  to  and  superior  to  the 
mere  effect  of  legislative  enactment.  The  territory 


8 

adapted  to  slavery  is  now  so  reduced,  if  indeed  any 
be  left,  that  hardly  any  final  arrangement  which  can 
be  made  in  the  adjustment  of  our  present  difficulties, 
can  help  the  South  or  harm  the  North.' 

Under  such  circumstances,  with  a  reasonable  degree 
of  conciliation,  it  might  seem  that  the  bitter  personal 
and  party  feuds  that  now  exist  would  cease,  as  soon 
as  it  became  fully,  and  clearly  understood,  that  the 
causes  of  them  had  terminated. 

We  may  hope  much,  moreover,  from  the  fact  that 
we  have  learned  something  of  the  exceeding  danger 
of  bitter  sectional  denunciation.  Its  injustice  and 
fearful  consequences  are  becoming  recognized,  and 
the  words  of  Washington  are  beginning  to  be  heard, 
as  he  points,  over  the  long  vista  of  our  history,  to  the 
yawning  gulf  to  which  we  are  hastening.  Our  people, 
who  have  been  so  prone  to  repent  of  other  people's 
sins,  are  beginning  to  realize  that,  placed  in  the  posi 
tion  of  our  Southern  brethren,  they  would  be  very 
much  like  them,  and  that  they  can  hardly  exult  much 
longer  in  their  self-righteousness,  that  they  are  not 
like  this  slaveholder.  They  begin  to  see  that  meas 
ures  of  Christian  reform  must  be  supported  with  a 
Christian  feeling  and  spirit ;  and  already  symptoms 
are  apparent  that  charity  and  brotherly  love  are 
about  supplanting  a  reign  of  discord  a,nd  hate. 

SOUTHERN    SECTIONAL   FEELING. 

Our  Southern  brethren  should  also  remember, 
while  complaining  of  the  North  as  sectional,  that  the 
controversy  has  not  been  on  one  side  merely.  As  the 
strength  of  the  Democratic  party  declined  in  the  Free 
States,  its  power  became  concentrated  at  the  South, 


so  as  to  be  almost  entirely  under  Southern  govern 
ance  and  lead.  Its  control,  therefore,  was  sectional, 
and  its  sectional  antagonism  has,  more  than  any  thing 
else,  called  forth  a  like  spirit  at  the  North.  Both 
parties  have  been  alike  in  fault. 

TRUE    POLICY   OF   THE    SOUTH   AS   TO    SLAVEEY   EXTENSION. 

It  was  a  great  mistake  in  Southern  policy  to 
attempt  to  carry  the  institution  of  slavery  into  debat 
able  territory.  It  should  be  a  maxim  of  the  true 
slaveholder  every  where — to  scorn  the  desire  of  the 
introduction  or  maintenance  of  slavery  in  any  section 
of  territory  where  the  spontaneous  will  of  the  people 
is  not  ready  to  sustain  and  encourage  it.  It  was  a 
blunder,  and,  so  far  as  fraud  was  put  in  requisition  to 
sustain  it,  a  crime,  to  attempt  to  fix  on  Kansas  an 
institution  where  its  growth  could  only  be  weak  and 
sickly,  and  it  could  never  exist  except  by  a  continual, 
and,  in  the  end,  hardly  doubtful  conflict.  It  is  by 
fighting  the  battle  unnecessarily  and  impoliticly,  in 
such  remote  outposts,  that  slavery  has  been  compelled 
to  tremble  in  its  very  citadel  and  strongholds,  where, 
without  such  foolish  peril,  it  had  been  politically  im 
pregnable.  We  have  mutual  lessons  to  learn  from 
the  sad  teachings  of  our  present  experience,  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  neither  party  is  so  Bourbon-like  as  - 
not  to  profit  by  them. 

TENDENCIES  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY. 

Alarm  has  been  expressed  at  the  general  tendencies 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  there  would  be  ground 
for  alarm  if,  in  the  new  phase  of  its  position,  it  should 
attempt  to  govern  and  control  in  the  ultra  sectional 


10 

spirit  in  which  it  has  won  its  way  to  power.  But 
much  toleration  must  be  extended  to  the  aggressive 
movements  of  an  attacking  party.  When  such  a 
party  assumes  the  reigns  of  government  and  the 
responsibilities  of  power,  it  necessarily  changes  its 
character ;  its  tendencies  and  necessities  become  con 
servative  ;  it  stands  by,  and  acts  with,  and  under  the 
Constitution  ;  and  with  such  tendencies, 'and  with  the 
manifestly  large  mass  of  conservative  men  in  the 
Republican  party,  who,  from  choice,  will  aid  in  giving 
it  this  direction,  it  may  well  be  questioned  whether 
there  is  any  just  ground  of  apprehension.  At  any 
rate,  very  soon  the  only  actual  strife  and  issue  before 
the  people  will  be,  What  party,  shall  first  gain  the 
hearts  and  confidence  of  the  people  as  a  truly  Na 
tional  Union  party  ;  and,  unless  the  Republicans  shall 
attain  to  that  position,  their  hold  on  power  is  lost. 

There  is  nothing,  then,  in  the  acts  complained  of, 
in  the  apprehensions  excited,  or  the  alienation  that 
exists,  to  justify  the  awful  calamity  that  is  bringing 
unparalleled  distress  upon  this  country,  and  that 
appalls  the  whole  civilized  world  with  its  crime  and 
wrong. 

TRUE    CHARACTER    OF    SECESSION. 

But  it  is  said,  by  the  present  head  of  the  new 
Confederacy,  that  this  is  a  mere  "  secession"  of  States 
that  have  reverted  back  to  their  right  of  self-govern 
ment,  and  "  that  it  is  by  an  abuse  of  language  that 
their  act  has  been  denominated  a  revolution,"  and 
"  that  within  each  of  the  States  its  government  has 
remained." 

No  one  denominates  this  movement,  as  yet,  as  a 


11 

revolution,  and  no  one  is  deceived  as  to  the  character 
of  the  movement,  by  the  assertion  that  the  exercise 
of  the  local  power  of  the  State  is  continued.  The 
fact  still  remains  of  the  denial  of  allegiance  to  the 
general  government,  and  the  disruption  and  over 
throw  of  all  the  duties  and  obligations  that  bind 
these  States  to  the  Union,  and  the  assertion,  by 
force  of  arms,  if  need  be,  of  an  entire,  independent 
sovereignty,  and  these  acts  make  a  rebellion  which  it 
is  far  better  openly  to  acknowledge,  than  to  attempt 
covertly  to  disguise,  under  the  assumed  name  of  se 
cession. 

Then,  again,  for  mere  secession  it  is  said  there  can 
be  no  coercion.  This  new  array  of  words,  to  conceal 
illegal  acts  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  stay  their  punish 
ment  on  the  other,  is  not  the  bold  language  usually 
adopted  by  men  who  strike  openly  for  conscience  and 
liberty. 

CAUSES  OF    PRESENT    EVILS   A   NEGLECT    TO    CHERISH    FEELINGS 
OF   LOVE   FOR   THE    UNION. 

Whatever  evasive  words  may  be  used,  the  crisis  of 
disunion  is  upon  us,  brought  upon  us  by  the  common 
thoughtlessness  and  willfulness  of  our  people  ;  by  a 
disregard  of  the  value  of  that  priceless  inheritance 
left  us  by  our  fathers,  and  achieved  for  us  by  an 
immense  expenditure  of  blood  and  treasure.  We 
have  failed  to  remember  that  the  blessings  of  liberty 
are  to  be  purchased  only  by  moderation,  charity  and 
a  watchful  eye  against  all  dissension,  and  the  cultiva 
tion  of  a  common  spirit  of  .naitonal  union  and  love. 
We  have  forgotten  the  wise  cautions  of  the  Father 
of  our  Country,  who  held  it  "  of  infinite  moment  that 


12 

we  should  properly  estimate  the  immense  value  of 
our  National  Union  to  our  collective  and  individual 
happiness ;  that  we  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual 
and  immovable  attachment  to  it ;  should  accustom 
ourselves  to  think  and  speak  of  it  as  the  palladium 
of  our  political  safety  and  prosperity ;  watching  for 
its  preservation  with  jealous  anxiety ;  discountenanc 
ing  whatever  may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it  can 
in  any  event  be  abandoned ;  and  indignantly  frowning 
upon  the  first  dawning  of  every  attempt  to  alienate 
any  portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest." 

MEANS    OF    PRESERVING   THE    UNION. 

What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  We  must  act  at  once, 
according  to  the  emergency  of  the  crisis,  and  with  a 
wise  reference  to  the  entire  future.  It  may  be  a 
long  and  painful  journey  to  retrace  our  steps,  but 
the  government  of  this  great  country  is  not  to  be 
surrendered,  or  its  destinies  thwarted. 

The  immediate  salvation  of  the  country  rests,  under 
Providence,  in  the  action  of  the  party  coming  into 
power.  If  its  rulers  take  their  position  on  the  stand 
point  of  a  dismembered,  divided  people,  and  act  up 
to  the  necessity  of  the  occasion,  they  may  save  the 
country ;  if  they  look  back  to  the  mere  narrow  lines 
of  party,  adapted  to  other  circumstances,  as  their 
guide,  they  will  lose,  for  the  time  being,  both  party, 
and  country. 

There  is  but  one  way,  in  the  present  crisis,  to 
preserve  the  Union,  and  that  is  the  adoption  of  a 
policy  that  shall  secure  a  united  North,  and  at  the 
same  time  gain  the  sound,  conservative  strength  of 
the  border  States,  until,  gradually,  confidence  shall  be 


13 

restored,  and  the  Union  shall  again  be  consolidated 
and  perfected.  To  do  this,  every  measure  of  concilia 
tion,  not  really  inconsistent  with  the  honor  of  the 
North  as  men  and  citizens,  should  be  granted,  that 
tends  in  any  way  to  quiet  the  excited  apprehensions 
of  the  South,  and  reassure  their  confidence  in  us  as  a 
people. 

The  most  exaggerated  attacks  and  bigoted  views 
that  have  at  any  time  been  put  forth  by  misguided 
zealots  here,  have  been  freely  and  actively  circulated 
at  the  South,  until  they  have  become  regarded  there 
as  the  common  expression  of  the  Northern  public 
mind.  If  the  sentiments  there  attributed  to  us,  as 
our  common  belief,  were  fully  known  here,  our  people 
would  rise  en  masse  to  repel  them  with  scorn  and 
indignation.  For  this  reason,  expressions  of  opinion 
that  might  seem  wholly  immaterial  to  us,  may  be  of 
vital  importance  in  correcting  erroneous  impressions 
prevailing  elsewhere  ;  and  we  should  be  careful  to 
repeat  them  over  and  over  again,  in  resolutions,  in 
platforms  and  in  statutes,  until  such  erroneous  im 
pressions  are  thoroughly  refuted  and  eradicated. 
Thus  we  should  continue  to  refute,  in  every  way 
in  which  it  can  be  done,  all  idea  of  our  power  or 
desire  of  interference  with  the  local  institutions  of 
other  States  ;  should,  agreeably  to  the  provisions  of 
the  Constitution,  enact  all  suitable  laws  to  protect 
any  State  from  invasion,  and  discontinue  in  every 
way  any  sympathy  with  or  aid  in  promoting  raids  on 
their  territory ;  should  discharge  fully  the  provision 
of  the  Constitution  that  all  persons,  held  to  service 
or  labor  under  the  laws  of  one  State,  escaping  into 
another,  should  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party 


14 

to  whom  service  or  labor  is  due,  and  should  repeal  at 
once  all  acts  conflicting  with  such  provisions. 

With  regard  to  the  future  extension  of  slavery,  we 
should  accurately  weigh  any  possible  contingency  of 
evil  that  might  arise  from  any  of  the  various  sugges 
tions  that  have  been  made  for  the  settlement  of  this 
question,  with  the  known  and  certain  evils  of  a  disso 
lution  of  the  Union,  and  the  strife  ai^d  bloodshed  of 
civil  war.  Acting  on  this  principle,  matters  of  mere 
pride,  form,  or  party  spirit  would  vanish,  and  whatever 
would  best  promote  the  good  of  the  whole  country 
would  be  adopted.  A  kind  Providence  has  taken 
this  matter  into  its  own  keeping,  and  has  marked  as 
surely  the  laws  and  character  that  limit  the  growth 
and  progress  of  slavery,  as  it  has  the  bounds  of  the 
sea ;  how  far  its  proud  waves  shall  come,  and  where 
they  shall  be  stayed. 

MEASURES    FOR    MAINTAINING   THE    GOVERNMENT. 

But  connected  with  these  acts,  and  sustained  at  the 
same  time  with  them,  must  be  all  necessary  acts  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  government  of  this  country ; 
and  there  is  but  one  limit  to  the  power  and  efficiency 
to  be  put  forth  for  this  end — the  consideration  that 
we  should  rely  mainly  for  our  best  hope  of  success 
on  the  returning  affection  and  regard  of  our  friends 
at  the  South. 

We  should  collect  our  duties ;  we  should  control 
the  fortifications  at  our  principal  Southern  ports,  and 
on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  outlet  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  Washington  should  be  retained :  beyond 
this,  except  to  repel  invasions,  or  in  retaliation  of  any 
piratical  crusades  that  might  be  made,  the  result 
should  be  left  to  time. 


15 

Coupled  with  these  measures,  every  means  should 
be  taken  kindly  to  correct  the  erroneous  impressions 
existing  as  to  the  advantages  of  a  separate  Southern 
government.  Acquisitions  of  new  territory,  pride  of 
power,  and  increased  influence  of  the  main  staple  of 
the  South,  have  passed  as  dazzling  visions  before  the 
eyes  of  our  Southern  brethren,  and  will  continue  to 
do  so,  until  more  thorough  examination  shall  fully 
satisfy  them  of  the  futility  and  fallaciousness  of  any 
such  ground  of  advantage. 

IMPOLICY    OF     FARTHER     EXTENSION    OF    THE     GOVERNMENT    IN 
MEXICO    OR    SOUTH   AMERICA. 

An  increase  of  territory  to  a  Southern  republic,  or 
to  our  own,  would  be  an  increase  of  burdens  and 
trouble.  It  would  bring  us  in  conflict  with  the  pres 
ent  possessors  of  the  country,  and  excite  the  jealousy, 
if  not  hostility  of  the  nations  of  Europe.  Possibly  if 
our  own  country  should  make  conquest  of  portions' 
of  Mexico  or  Central  America,  it  might  be  tolerated. 
It  certainly  would  not  be,  if  done  by  a  Southern  Con 
federacy,  as  a  propagandist  of  slavery. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  race  may,  in  the  end,  control 
these  countries.  It  is  perhaps  desirable  they  should. 
But  a  government  of  those  regions,  adequate  to  the 
control  of  their  present  population,  with  its  large 
mixture  of  bigoted  and  ignorant  subordinate  races, 
would  not  be  of  a  character  which  would  harmonize 
in  spirit  with  the  States  of  our  Union ;  and  these 
people  could  hardly  be  allowed  to  share  with  our  free 
and  enlightened  citizens  in  the  common  choice  of  our 
rulers.  Their  interest  and  ours  would  be  better  pro 
moted  by  a  distinct  and  independent  government,  in 


16 

close  alliance,  and  on  terms  of  friendship  and  amity 
with  us,  but  not  identical.  Safe  and  sure  passages 
across  the  isthmus  should  be  guaranteed,  but  it  will 
be  a  happy  day  for  us  when  the  public  mind,  North 
and  South,  shall  settle  upon  the  fixed  determination 
of  limiting  our  boundaries  permanently  by  the  Rio 
Grande. 

MISTAKEN   VIEWS     ON   THE     BENEFITS     OF     A     SOUTHERN     CON 
FEDERACY. 

The  impressions  of  new  pride  and  consequence  to 
be  attained  by  the  Southern  States  as  an  independent 
Sovereignty,  will  never  be  realized.  The  respect  of 
foreign  governments,  as  meted  out  to  us,  has  been 
entirely  in  proportion  to  our  power.  A  new  Southern 
government,  based  on  its  position  exclusively  as  a 
slaveholding  power,  whose  fundamental  law  refuses 
all  admission  of  free  States,  would  be  a  dark  spot  in 
this  enlightened  era  of  the  world.  If  it  could  be 
sustained  at  all  as  an  independent  sovereignty,  it 
must  be  at  great  and  ruinous  expense,  and  subject 
to  continued  uneasiness  and  alarm. 

Secession  is  not  only  secession  from  territory,  but 
from  all  the  glorious  common  recollections  of  the 
Revolution.  The  sons  of  the  South  could  never  look 
back  to  the  early  struggles  of  their  fathers,  except 
with  feelings  of  humiliation  at  the  noble  birthright 
they  had  parted  with.  It  would  be  secession  from 
our  star-spangled  banner  that  has  floated,  and  will 
continue  to  float,  in  honor  on  every  sea,  while  a 
palmetto  flag  or  vessel  would  be  so  rarely  seen  as  to 
be  a  wonder  and  mystery.  Their  country,  hemmed 
in  by  comparatively  narrow  limits  between  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  seaboard,  with  no  prior  history  to  excite 


17 

their  pride,  and  no  diversity  of  pursuit  or  association 
to  awaken  their  interest — except  to  work  negroes  and 
raise  cotton — would  be  in  striking  contrast  with  their 
former  situation  as  free  and  equal  members  of  a  great 
Republic,  with  all  its  hallowed  memories  and  diversi 
fied  interests,  extending  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Northern  Lakes ;  a  country 
regarded  as  the  home  and  birth-place  of  freedom,  and 
whose  memory  throughout  the  world  is  blessed. 

WELCOME     RETURN    OF   THE    SOUTH   TO    THE    UNION,    WITH   ITS 
FULL    SHARE   OF   POLITICAL    POWER. 

It  has  been  said  that  return  would  be  humiliating 
to  the  South,  and  that  our  present  dissensions  would 
deprive  them  of  all  hope  of  future  political  power. 
This  is  a  mistake.  The  North,  though  measurably 
united  now,  will  often  hereafter  be  divided  as  to 
matters  of  policy,  when  the  element  of  slavery  has 
been  removed  from  political  discussion,  and  the  South, 
coming  in  as  a  third  interest,  will  ever  be  likely  to 
retain  more  than  its  fair  share  of  power.  Present 
political  distrust  will  soon  be  removed,  and  the  deep 
regret  of  separation  will  be  more  than  paralleled  in 
the  joy  of  their  return,  and  the  settled  conviction  of 
an  ultimate  permanent  Union. 

EFFECT  OF   THE    PRESENT  MOVEMENT   ON   THE   CULTIVATION  OF 
COTTON   ELSEWHERE,    AND   THE   CIVILIZATION   OF   AFRICA. 

The  peculiar  product  of  the  Southern  States  has 
been  greatly  relied  upon  to  sustain  them  in  their 
position.  Its  production  will  always  be  valuable  to 
them,  but  its  value  as  a  monopoly  is  greatly  overrated. 
While  the  South  claim  cotton  as  king,  they  should 


18 

remember  that  an  American  king  can  never  reign 
over  Europe.  Louis  Napoleon,  who  is  practically  the 
wisest  man  of  Europe,  has  well  said  that  "Cotton 
may  be  king,  but  he  is  not  crowned  yet."  The  present 
excitement  in  this  country  has  settled  that  question. 
Neither  cotton  or  the  black  man  are  indigenous  to 
this  country.  They  are  both  so  to  Africa.  Discoveries 
made  within  a  few  years  have  just  prepared  the  way 
for  a  movement  in  Central  Africa  that  will  awake 
that  country  at  once  to  civilization ;  and  Cotton,  if 
ever  king,  will  be  crowned  there. 

The  influence  of  the  cultivation  of  cotton  in  Africa 
will  be  as  rapid  and  certain  on  the  destinies  of  that 
country,  as  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California.  The 
movement  at  the  South  has  hastened  this  crisis  a 
century.  It  has  started  a  revolution  in  this  respect 
which  will  not  go  backward,  and  the  great  secret  of 
this  unhappy  commotion  with  us  may  be  the  provi 
dence  of  God  pointing  to  the  civilization  of  a  conti 
nent.  Ten  years  hence  will  show  the  certainty  of  its 
fulfillment.  Europe  will  never  consent  to  be  limited, 
as  to  the  great  staple  of  her  manufactures,  to  a  supply 
from  a  single  country  that  arrogantly  asserts  for  it,  in 
her  hands,  its  despotic  control  as  king.  She  is  now 
awake  to  the  danger,  and  will  never  sleep  till  that 
danger  is  removed  past  all  contingency.  In  various 
other  countries,  also,  the  supply  of  cotton  will  at  once 
become  vastly  increased. 

NECESSARY     CLAIMS   AND    POSITION   OF   A   NORTHERN    GOVERN 
MENT   IN   CASE    OF   A   DISSOLUTION    OF   THE    UNION. 

There  is  another  difficulty,  and  a  most  serious  one 
to  be  encountered  by  the  new  government.  The 


19 

Northern  Kepublic  consists  of  a  manufacturing  and 
commercial  people.  It  must  ever  constitute  a  great 
people  even  if  the  entire  South  should  leave  us.  In 
that  case  there  would  be  certain  national  necessities 
that  must  govern  our  policy.  We  should  control  the 
sea,  and  we  should  never  rest  until  along  all  the  great 
lines  of  our  commerce  the  great  fortresses  of  the 
country  were  held  for  our  protection.  We  should 
not  permit  our  progress  through  the  highways  of  the 
ocean  to  be  placed  in  jeopardy,  or  suffer  any  border 
government  to  control  them.  This  would  be  our 
right  rather  than  that  of  the  South,  and  it  would  be 
our  duty  to  maintain  it.  ,We  should  also  demand,  as 
a  strategetical  necessity,  a  safe  and  well  defined  border 
line  adjoining  any  Southern  Confederacy,  and  that 
line  would  never  be  north  of  the  Potomac. 

But  any  such  contingencies  need  hardly  be  looked 
forward  to.  It  can  not  be,  that,  with  the  deep-seated 
love  of  the  Union  that  lives  alike  in  the  hearts  of 
our  countrymen  North  and  South,  these  evils,  which 
so  fearfully  loom  up  in  the  distance,  can  ever  be 
experienced. 

NECESSITY   OF    UNION   AT   THE   NORTH. 

Many  years  may  pass  by  of  trial  and  suffering,  and, 
perhaps,  of  bloodshed,  ere  wisdom  assumes  her  reign  ; 
but  the  love  of  the  Union,  compelling  a  just  spirit  of 
mutual  concession  and  conciliation,  will  in  the  end 
prevail.  The  great  difficulty  lying  immediately 
athwart  our  path,  is  the  jealousy  of  party.  Concilia 
tion,  so  far  as  conciliation  may  justly  be  demanded, 
can  alone  unite  the  North  so  as  to  present  that  moral 
power  and  influence  that  can  insure  success.  The 


20 

South  is  already  united,  and  with  a  divided  North  we 
shall  be  held  hopelessly  at  bay,  till  the  South  shall  be 
strengthened  and  consolidated  as  with  bands  of  steel. 
The  Republican  party  can  save  us  from  this  ca 
lamity.  Should  they  place  themselves  in  a  position 
so  that  all  national  conservative  men  can  act  with 
them,  we  can  harmlessly  pass  through  this  fiery  trial. 
All  that  is  necessary,  is,  that,  under  a  just  and  kind 
rule,  Time,  the  healer  of  all  dissensions,  may  be  per 
mitted  to  come  to  our  aid,  and  Truth,  the  daughter 
of  Time. 

INFLUENCE   AND    POWER   OF    THE    INCOMING   PRESIDENT. 

The  Chief  Executive  Magistrate  of  the  Nation  has, 
in  his  single  hand,  the  power  to  roll  back,  in  a  great 
degree,  the  tide  of  dissension  and  alarm.  By  a  wise, 
conciliatory,  and  yet  energetic  course,  he  may  render 
greater  service  to  his  country  than  has  ever  yet  been 
rendered  by  any  man  save  Washington,  and  may  ob 
tain  a  hold  on  the  affections  of  the  people,  such  as  no 
one  but  him  has  acquired.  The  difficulty  of  his  posi 
tion  entitles  him  to  the  earnest  sympathy  and  prayers 
of  the  people,  and  their  generous  confidence,  until 
such  time  as  he  can  be  fairly  judged  of  by  his  acts. 
With  high  regard, 

I  am,  very  truly,  yours, 

N.  G.  UPHAM. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


JAW  2  6  J966 
RET.  JAN 

DEC  3    1966 
RETDDEC3    1969 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-50m-8,'63(D9954s4) 458 


Upham,  N,G. 

Letter  on  the  present 


